Do you talk too fast? Then… ‘Wait for the Nod!’

Are you one of those people who speaks faster when you get excited or nervous?

And does that have you feel a little out of control? Do you suspect your audience might detect your nervousness and doubt your credibility as a result?

If any of these things resonate for you you’ll love the presentation delivery technique I’m talking about today.

I call it “Wait for the Nod.”

And that’s literally all you need to know in order to implement this idea.

You use the “wait for the nod technique” every time you finish a sentence. All you do is, hold your gaze on the person you happen to be looking at and wait for them to nod or give some sort of indication that they’ve got what you’re talking about.

That’s it.

So what makes this technique so useful?

There are a number of ways it will help you:

1. If you hold your eyes on (someone in) your audience at the end of each sentence, it indicates that you care about whether or not they’re listening and understanding your message.

3. When you wait for the nod, it gives your audience time to process what you’ve just said and so they’ll stay engaged with your content.

4. By waiting, you give yourself time to gather your thoughts ready to deliver what comes next. You’ll stop feeling like a run-away train and instead, feel more grounded and in control.

5. The silence at the end of the sentence gives the words you’ve just uttered WEIGHT! They “sit” in your audience’s short-term memory – it’s as though you’ve just hit the bold key!

One of the great things about this technique is that you don’t have to consciously pause – there’s no need to count to three or wonder if you’ve stopped for long enough. When you wait for the nod, your audience will send you the signal to continue.

The best way to start practicing this technique is in everyday conversation. Once you get into the habit of using it with one person, it’s not that difficult to use it with three for four – and then, a full audience.